Larry Brown is the master of the raw and the sparse
and of bringing Mississippi to the world in a language that is as stripped down
and bare as Faulkners
is dense. Brown is at his best when he writes of the tensions between one screwed-up
man and another, in this case a father and son. One has just been let out of
prison, and he shouldn’t have been. The other is drunk and disabled and intends
on staying that way. To make things worse, there is a conflict with the sheriff,
who is good and righteous but who tried to put the moves on the parolee’s woman
while he was in prison. To tell more would be to violate Brown’s mastery of
dialogue and of that which goes unspoken in this sly story of father, son, and
misery.

Despite the self-contradictory title, this collection
first published in 1979 features both published stories, several of which
Faulkner later revised and incorporated into his novels, and previously unpublished
stories.

Rick Bass, a prolific writer of considerable merit,
has crafted an elegant plea to save the ecosystem of the Yaak Valley in northwestern
Montana. Bass argues that the Yaak deserves to be saved, both for its beauty
and for its role in a biological system that stretches through much of North
America. To enamor readers with the Yaak he describes it with reverence, and
in doing so makes us care. “We are all complicit,” he says.

In this luminous collection, Rick Bass firmly
establishes himself as a master of the short story, with tales that embrace
vibrant images and ordinary human life and exuberant descriptions of the natural
world. “Impelled by a profound love of the land, the ten stories of In
the Loyal Mountains are a reminder that American literature draws its
unique strength from a powerful sense of place.” Los Angeles Times

In a celebration of winter in the last valley
of Montana without electricity, Bass describes the wildness and freedom
of valley people, the slow-motion quality of life, and the physical dangers
of wilderness life. He also describes the anguish and pitfalls of being
a writer and the living and dead writers with whom he feels a kinship.

This celebrated collection opens with “Nora Jane
and Company,” featuring one of the most popular characters in the Gilchrist
galaxy. The nine stories that follow explore the hazards of recapturing and
reviving old affairs. Featuring both new and familiar Gilchrist characters,
all of these stories shed brilliant new light on the oldest emotion.

Long ago in Kentucky, Sarah Conley fell in love
with a young man but wound up marrying his brothera tangled melodrama
of missteps and mistaken intentions that led to bad feelings and burned bridges.
Sarah divorced and decamped to New York, became a celebrated novelist and
magazine editor, and never looked backuntil she got a call from the
woman who used to be her best friend.

This heartbreaking novel from award-winning Mississippi
writer Lewis Nordan is a meditation upon guns and love. One fateful day in the
Delta town of Arrow Catcher, the sweet, simple hero of the book, Hydro Raney,
tries his hand with sharpshooting and reveals a deadeye aim. Later in the day,
he blows away a brother and sister who are committing a robbery at a country
store. “What Nordan alone brings to the page is the courage to use nothing
less than black powder prose to blast some sense into us no matter where we’ve
come to ground.” The Miami Herald

Eight Habits of the Heart: The
Timeless Values That Build Strong Communities

Holland went from poverty and prostitution to acclaim
and self-respect as a professor and a playwright. Now, in a memoir that is
by turns funny and angry, this remarkable African-American woman candidly
recounts the story of her fascinating life. Includes photos.

A Time to Heal: John Perkins,
Community Development, and Racial Reconciliation